Friday, March 9, 2018 / by Ruth Ballantyne
Lobbying at Queens Park
[caption id="attachment_707" align="aligncenter" width="1024" caption="MPP Linda Jeffery Meets with BREB"]
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Over the past few days I have been involved at the Ontario Real Estate Association's (OREA) Political Affairs Conference. The Brampton Real Estate Board (BREB) along with the outhe 41 boards across Ontario decended on Queen's Park and met with 80 MPP's.
We were there to Ask the MPP's to amend the Ontario Regjlation 282/98 of the Assesment Act by adding a new tax class for Browndfield Propertis that are "under remediation." Brownfields classified in this manner would then pay taxes at the same rate as agricultural land or greenfields. This would encourage redeveplopment of these sites.
Our second as was to amend REBBA 2002 to permit a Salesperson or Broker to form a Personal Real Estate Corporation.
In the past few years we have lobbied the Provincial government and been successful in having the Land Transfer Tax rebate program to include resale housing. We also launched two Call to Action campaigns opposing the HST and the Mandatory Home Energy Audit. This resulted in nearly 50,000 emails to MPP's and although we did not stop the HST we did achieve and amendment to the Green Energy Audit.
I love Political Action Days or PAC days as we affectionately call them. It is my chance to make a small contribution to the industry. It allows me to get personally involved in the political process and maintain my belief that together we can change the world, one small step at a time.
[/caption]Over the past few days I have been involved at the Ontario Real Estate Association's (OREA) Political Affairs Conference. The Brampton Real Estate Board (BREB) along with the outhe 41 boards across Ontario decended on Queen's Park and met with 80 MPP's.
We were there to Ask the MPP's to amend the Ontario Regjlation 282/98 of the Assesment Act by adding a new tax class for Browndfield Propertis that are "under remediation." Brownfields classified in this manner would then pay taxes at the same rate as agricultural land or greenfields. This would encourage redeveplopment of these sites.
Our second as was to amend REBBA 2002 to permit a Salesperson or Broker to form a Personal Real Estate Corporation.
In the past few years we have lobbied the Provincial government and been successful in having the Land Transfer Tax rebate program to include resale housing. We also launched two Call to Action campaigns opposing the HST and the Mandatory Home Energy Audit. This resulted in nearly 50,000 emails to MPP's and although we did not stop the HST we did achieve and amendment to the Green Energy Audit.
I love Political Action Days or PAC days as we affectionately call them. It is my chance to make a small contribution to the industry. It allows me to get personally involved in the political process and maintain my belief that together we can change the world, one small step at a time.
